''Nanorrhinum scoparium'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Kickxia scoparia'', is a yellow-flowered plant native to rocky areas of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

in the North Atlantic. It belongs to the plantain family (

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

Description

''Nanorrhinum scoparium'' is an erect, mostly unbranched

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

. It has linear leaves with short or no stalks ( petioles), that often fall off early in the plant's lifecycle. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are yellow, and the flower has a relatively long, more or less straight spur. File:Kickxia scoparia kz2.JPG, Flower

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Pierre Broussonet in 1825 as ''Linaria scoparia''. It was transferred to the genus ''

Kickxia ''Kickxia'' is a genus of plants in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae). It includes several species known commonly as cancerworts or fluellins. Species are mostly native to Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, with two, ''K. elatine'' and ''K ...

'' in 1972 by Günther Kunkel and

Per Øgle Sunding Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Math ...

. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study in 2016 suggested that a group of species within ''Kickxia'' were better placed in ''

Nanorrhinum ''Nanorrhinum'' is a genus of flowering plant in family Plantaginaceae. Species , Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 w ...

''; ''Nanorrhinum scoparium'' was one of the species transferred by Nafiseh Yousefi and Shahin Zarre.

Distribution and habitat

''Nanorrhinum scoparium'' is native to the

, although some sources have suggested a wider distribution. In the Canary Islands, it is found in dry rocky slopes, up to elevations of 600 m.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q47542544, from2=Q17732172 scoparium Flora of the Canary Islands